For Congressman-elect Cartwright, a crash course at the Capitol

Monday

Nov 19, 2012 at 12:01 AM

WASHINGTON — After unseating a 20-year incumbent in what he described as a "head-spinning" campaign, incoming Congressman Matt Cartwright said he is undaunted by his new role in the nation's storied, 223-year-old institution.

COLBY ITKOWITZ

WASHINGTON — After unseating a 20-year incumbent in what he described as a "head-spinning" campaign, incoming Congressman Matt Cartwright said he is undaunted by his new role in the nation's storied, 223-year-old institution.

Still, when Minority Leader Steny Hoyer took the more than 45 newly elected Democratic lawmakers for a candlelight tour of the Capitol last week, Cartwright, a Scranton trial lawyer, described his thrill at seeing the Old Supreme Court Chamber.

"I'm not going to deny it, that's part of the attraction to the job, it's kind of a big deal," Cartwright said, sitting in the Capitol Hill Hotel lobby where the new members were staying for their freshman orientation last week. "It's heady stuff, but you keep your eye on the ball. I'm here to stick up for 750,000 people."

Getting to Congress, a dream that has always tugged at him, was the most difficult part, he said. He was worried he'd make "an idiot of himself in public."

A political novice, Cartwright, 51, challenged 10-term conservative Democrat Tim Holden in the spring primary after redistricting shifted the 17th Congressional District into Democratic-leaning areas, including Easton and other parts of Northampton County. Cartwright won by 15 points. This month he defeated Republican Laureen Cummings.

"Compared to the campaign I went through for the last 10 months, this is a cakewalk," Cartwright said as he begins the process of interviewing staffers to fill his federal and local offices, looks for a furnished apartment and receives leftover constituent casework from Holden as well as from U.S. Reps. Lou Barletta and Charlie Dent, who held areas of his district before redistricting.

Barletta, R-11th District, who just two years ago was in Cartwright's shoes as a newbie, said he'll be reaching out to Cartwright to give him some advice on handling constituent cases. But he also had other words of caution for his new colleague on the other side of the aisle.

"He can expect not to see his family very much, not to eat at the same hours he used to eat at, he'll find his walk will be a lot faster," Barletta said. "He can say goodbye to his normal life because he will be fighting with his staff for time to do normal things at home like pay your bills, do errands. He won't have very much time to himself."

Cartwright's first week in Washington was essentially a several-day Congress 101 crash course. He's learning things like the ethics of Washington eating: A lawmaker cannot accept a hot dog from a lobbyist but can take an unlimited amount of hors d'oeuvres at an outside-funded reception, he said.

He's also starting to put in his requests for committee assignments. At the top of his wish list is the transportation panel, in part because he called Pennsylvania "the capital of the nation's crumbling roads and bridges" and because of his dream of bringing passenger rail service back to northeastern Pennsylvania.

It's a popular committee he's heard a lot of new members want, so he's keeping his fingers crossed.

He's also vying for the government oversight committee, which investigates the federal government. It's a good fit, he said, because "they could use someone who knows how to ask a question in a courtroom."

Cartwright is mindful of the task ahead for a Congress that in the past two years has had historically low public approval and whose deep partisanship made getting legislation passed a rarity.

But he said he's inspired by his freshman class that is mostly women, is ethnically diverse and includes several members who are gay and lesbian. He's also getting to know the two other new Pennsylvania lawmakers, Republicans Keith Rothfus and Scott Perry.

"You're not going to get away from a little bit of partisanship, but we are a class of problem solvers," Cartwright said. "Look at me, I was never a politician before. I don't go to sleep at night grinding my teeth over hating Republicans."